Beet-za Pizza!

Most people think of pizza being made from pizza dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. I agree, that's pizza. But I think that pizza is so much more than that too.

One of my favourite pizzas is my Butternut Squash and Arugula Pizza  and it doesn't have any tomato sauce on it at all. In fact it has maple syrup on it! One of my other favourite pizzas is my Provençal Pizza and it's covered in pears and lavendar! 

If you think either of those pizzas sound like something you might be interested in tasting, keep on reading because this pizza is incredibly yummy too. It's my version of a pizza created on the Roasted Root, but done in an even more beet-y way to incorporate the earthy flavour of beet greens. 

Beet Pesto

I love a good pesto on pasta, burgers, as a dip, or on veggies. I love it made from basil and pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, or really anything. I just love that it's a super flavourful and vibrant sauce.

Today's recipe takes vibrant to a new level. It's a sweet, rich, and über vibrant Beet Pesto and it's perfect for serving in place of any of your favourite pestos.

If this recipe reminds you of something else you've seen on my blog, it might be because it's really similar to my Alien Spaghetti I made for Halloween last year! But considering this recipe has cheese in it and is a little hardier, I like it even more!

Salad Toppers

Have you ever tried corn nuts? I haven't until now and I am surprised to say that I like them. They look a little like the corn I used to buy from vending machines at farms to feed to the animals, but they taste like crunchy, salty, bites of goodness. And they are great as salad toppers!

The best thing I found about corn nuts is that they taste great on top of any salad I've tried so far. But I have to say that the salad I'm sharing today is pretty fantastic when topped with corn nuts.  Maybe it's the vinegary bite of the pickled beets with the salty corn nuts, creamy avocado, earthy lentils, and sharp green onions, but I think it's a great pairing!

Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Beets and Eggs!

Beets and eggs are two of my favourite foods so hearing that they were chosen for August's Crazy Ingredient Challenge's ingredients made me very happy. And even more than two of my favourite foods, this month's ingredients allow me to do one of my favourite things - bake!

I dabbled with ideas of what to make this month, coming up with recipes I thought were unique like Gnocchi with Beet Greens and Fried Shallots or Tie Dye Devilled Eggs, but I was craving to bake and I really wanted to eat chocolate cake.

So, in the end, I decided to revamp one of my favourite recipes and make it beet-friendly. I think it turned out earthy and amazing. Read on for my Beet-iful Chocolate Brownies and check out everyone else's recipe too!

Summer Salad Frenzy

I have truly enjoyed finding one new ingredient to try using each month of 2014 and I am proud to say that July's ingredient was something I grew in my garden. It's pineapple mint.

Pineapple mint tastes exactly what you would expect a mint and pineapple fusion to taste like and I have no idea how anyone could have made it happen. It's fresh, bright, and delicious. And you might not believe me, but it's perfect with seafood.

The dish I made to first taste pineapple mint is a fresh summer salad and I know it's going to find it's way back onto my dinner table throughout August. It's too simple and perfect to serve on a warm day.

Movember - Mo Sistas, Mo Cookies, and Mo-re

I like to think of myself as a Mo Sista this month. But before you start thinking I've been quietly growing a moustache behind your back, let me tell you that being a Mo Sista means helping to raise money and spread awareness in the battles against testicular and prostate cancer and mental health - all through the power of a moustache.

To start my journey as a Mo Sista, I decided I should put my talents to use and cook, bake, and creatively name my goodies. I thought about things that would be easy to make, fun to name, and about celebrity moustaches because what's a moustache without the likes of Burt Reynolds?

To start the fun I like the idea of inviting my good friend Burt Reynolds over for some Beet Reynolds Soup with mo croutons. :)

Read on for my recipe and save room for some Easy Mo Cookies. Then, if you're feeling generous, please click here to donate to a local Victoria, BC Movember team.

Alien Spaghetti

Today's recipe is absolutely one of the most fun and easy recipes I've ever made. And that's not a sentence I'm saying lightly. These were leftovers I was proud to show off in the lunch room the next day. I was proud to share such a fun recipe with anyone that asked about it and was excited to be able to remember the few short steps it took to make the dish come alive.

The fact that it's perfect for sharing in October is a big bonus. The dish is a healthier version of one from Clotilde Dusoulier's The French Market Cookbook and it's shocking pink colour makes it perfect for remembering that October is breast cancer awareness month. Plus it reminds me of Alien Spaghetti and that makes it perfect for Halloween too! :)

Beet It, Stains

I love eating beets. They can be sweet, earthy, or pickled and they add a beautiful rich hue to my plates. But I don't love the stains they leave when one when accidentally falls off my fork, tumbles down my blouse, and lands on my pants. In fact, I hate beet stains.

But I've learned how best to go about beating beet stains, and before I share one of the best beet salad recipes I've ever had with you, I'm going to share a couple of tips about getting rid of beet stains.

I've tried two methods and they've both worked pretty well. The first method sounds a little crazy, but I use it if I'm out of my favourite stain remover. Just soak a piece of bread in cold water and use it to sponge away the beet stains, then wash the clothes as usual. My second method is to run the fabric under cold water right away, pretreat the stain with my favourite stain remover, and then wash as usual. I'm always interested in learning about new ways to get rid of stains, so if you have other tested ideas, I'd love to hear about them.

I'm going to post my tips about getting rid of beet stains on Resolve's new Resolve Tip Exchange website. It's a great new site to learn about getting rid of stains, all from readers like you and me!

One of the ways that Resolve is encouraging us to enter tips is by offering 12 weekly prizes of $250 and a grand prize of $5000! Each week we can submit a tip to earn a ballot in the draw for the prizes and that's sure got me thinking of tips I'd like to share!

So far I've sent in tips for removing butter and red wine from clothes, but you'll have to head over to Resolve Tip Exchange to find out those tips! For now, since you don't have to worry about permanently staining your clothes from beets, read on for an amazingly tasty Beet and Carrot Salad recipe!

Picnic with A Punch

Dill hasn't always been one of my go-to herbs. It packs a big punch and I usually only like it in a pickle form. But today dill has a starring role in the dish I'm showing you and I have to say that the flavour it brought to my salad was amazing. 

I don't know if dill will continue to star in a lot of dishes I make, but I do know that my Roasted Beet and Lentil Salad wouldn't have been the same without it. I think it would be perfect for a picnic or for night relaxing on your back porch.  

So here's to dill and a salad that dill helped to make dill-icious! Read on for the yummy recipe! 

Canadian Love

Every Canada Day I like to make a new Canada Day themed dish. Once day I'll get away from my thoughts of red and white food parties, but not this year. The dish I've sharing today is at least slightly more elegant than some I've created in past years, but it's still a red and white dish.

I ended up making a salad this year that could complement any grilled main, or could even be dinner on its own. It's made with beautiful roasted red beets, toasted white hazelnuts, orange segments for a burst of extra colour, tart fresh raspberries, maple syrup, and a little torn purple basil. I was going to add in some crumbled goat cheese for little extra white, but I stopped myself. I knew the salad didn't need cheese especially with the maple syrup, and I was only going to add it for the colour. That's a first step to no more colour themed dishes, right?

Rainbow of Delights

I love noshing on colourful food because it looks so beautiful. And I love serving colourful food to my friends because it makes everyone smile and smiling is important when you want to enjoy what you're eating. 

Today's post might be simple to make, but it's also simply beautiful if you ask me. And I love to spoon up some of this puréed carrot sauce, inspired by a recipe from Martha Stewart's Meatless, and pour it into my summer rolls. Delish!

Beet of my Heart

I love veggies of all kinds, but golden beets hold an extra special place in my heart. They taste extra delicious because they're hard to get my hands on, they don't leave a red stain on everything they touch, and they're good for you! What could be better? 

I'll tell you what could be better, this Golden Beet and Couscous Salad. It's delicious and quick to make too. Now what could be better than that? I'll have to keep tasting and find out! 

Nutty About Beets

This beet salad is one of the best salads that I've ever made. It had soft and sweet roasted beets, tangy cambozola cheese, and crunchy roasted hazelnuts. And it doesn't need much than that to be perfect. 

I also love that this salad is delicious served warm as a side dish, or even a main dish, and that it's equally delicious served cold for lunch the next day. Very few salads can achieve this kind of perfection. 

Cold Snap

All veggies have a peak season and one of the best things about the colder weather upon us is that this season’s peak veggies are some of the cream of the crop. Hardy veggies like winter squashes, carrots, beets, cabbage, and kale all thrive at this time of year and many varieties of these veggies actually taste sweeter and improve in texture when cold flashes hit. 

While roasting these veggies as a side dish is very common in many households, it can be hard to come up with new ways to cook with this season’s harvest. But, by incorporating cold weather’s harvest into casseroles, soups, and other main dishes, the sky’s the limit on the number of dishes you can whip up in a snap.

Try my Chicken and Squash Tagine, my prize winning Tuscan Veggie and Pesto Chicken Lasagna, my mom's Candy Cane Beet Slaw, my Minestrone Soup, or today's recipe - Roasted Veggie Medley with Parsley Sauced Fish. 

Simple Summer Salad

Summer is a time for relaxation. Many people take time off work to spend time with family and friends, travel, or lay in the sun. Summer's a time to forget about worries and take a nap in the afternoon. And let's not forget, summer's hot!

When I am relaxing I don't want to cook big meals, especially big hot meals. But I still want to enjoy yummy meals and new combinations of food. 

This simple summer salad of tomatoes, beets, and blue cheese is a perfect example of what I think summer cooking should be. It's no work, it's cool, and it still tastes great!

My Big Fat Italian Wedding

Really, I am a morning a morning person. But on cold mornings, I am anything but that. 

I hate pulling myself out from under the covers in the morning and feeling a chill on my skin. I'm not even tired anymore, but I feel cold and I don't want to move. 

So on days like today, I try to look on the bright side and think about warm things. 

One of those things is a big bowl of steamy soup. And I love soup. 

I love soup so much that I included one of my favourite warm and cozy soup recipes in my card at a bridal shower this weekend. 

And what could be more perfect for the occasion than Italian Wedding Soup? 

But you're not getting just any Italian Wedding Soup. You're getting my Big Fat Italian Wedding Soup. It's chunky and delicious, and it might even beat out the original version I gave to my friend. 

Breakfast for Dinner

I love breakfast for dinner almost as much as I love breakfast on the weekends.

I think about all the delicious, comforting egg dishes on Friday night and wonder which one I'll treat myself to the next morning. There are so many kinds of dishes that you can make with eggs that the possibilities are seemingly endless.

So when I get an opportunity to try one of these delightful breakfast style dishes for dinner, I jump on it.

I mean, another chance to enjoy breakfast? Who wouldn't love that?

The dish I am sharing with you today is a dish that you could serve for dinner and have memories of weekend breakfasts, or you could enjoy it for breakfast and serve it with fruit instead of a salad. It's good any way you try it!

Where Is The Love?

Cause people got me got me questioning, where is the love...

I think that there could be a double meaning behind the Black Eyed Peas first big hit, Where is the Love.

Obviously they were discussing where the love is within humanity. You can hear that in the lyrics of the song.

However, I think that they may also have been questioning where is the love is for the first black eyed peas, the beans.

Well... maybe not. Maybe that is me doing a little reaching in symbolism, but you never know.

Anyway, that is question on my mind because I love eating those little beans, but they aren't a favourite of the majority of the population.

I mean, have you ever heard someone say, "I'm craving some black eyed peas" or "yum, black eyed peas, that's what I'd want for my last meal." I haven't heard anyone even mention black eyed peas as a semi-favourite food before.

But, now is your chance to try them in a yummy, nutty, way. And because they're paired up with another equally neglected bit of produce, swiss chard, you're doing double duty on the new food front.

A Candy Cane Treat

Well.... I do love Christmas but even I know it's a bit early to start decorating and planning, so this recipe has nothing to do with Christmas at all.

Actually, to be honest, this recipe has nothing to do with me at all! It is my very first viewer's contribution and even though it's my mom's contribution, it still makes me feel excited that someone wanted to share their recipe through my blog.

My mom had been looking for special heirloom beet seeds, the golden beet variety specifically, forever. So when I found a huge selection of seeds at the great gardening store in Victoria, I had to get some for her.

I mailed the seeds off, she planted them, and now they're ready to be enjoyed.

Beet the Heat

Living in Victoria, BC this year, I had practically forgotten what summer felt like. It feels a lot like spring feels like year round here and while I do miss the summer, I do not miss the harshness of the Halifax winters.

So when the heat rolls around here and I haven't been expecting it, I both love and hate it. I miss the summer but I'm not used to the heat, so the oven stays off and the BBQ goes on.

Here's a delicious salad I made to star in the this weather. And if it's cooler out, bake the beets in two small baking dishes. The oven really crisps up the bit of beet greens and adds a delicious texture!